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Do you live in one of the most dangerous cities in Virginia?

We all watch the news and see reports on Facebook of the latest crimes that happen in our hometowns. But it can be hard to tell at a big picture level how dangerous our town actually is.

No one wants to feel unsafe, and statistically speaking, odds are that where you live is most likely relatively safe. In order to help the good people of Virginia — and anyone looking to move to Virginia — know just how close they are to danger, we took data from the annual FBI report and did some serious analysis.

The data shows that these ten cities are currently the most dangerous in the Old Dominion:

Why did Portsmouth take the top spot? For the answer to this question and a detailed explanation of the data and analysis we used in creating this ranking, read on. Or learn more about the safest places in Virginia.

1. Portsmouth

Population: 95,813Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)Violent Crimes Per 100k: 791Property Crimes Per 100k: 5,607
Home to a large navy facility and, it’s name sake, a large port, these institutions may contribute to the to large incidence of crime in Portsmouth.

Portsmouth ranked 2nd in violent crimes and 1st in property crimes. Residents had about a 1 in 17.8 chance of being a victim of a property crime.

2. Marion

Population: 5,956Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 10)Violent Crimes Per 100k: 772Property Crimes Per 100k: 4,382
Located in Smyth County, Marion hasn’t experienced much of a change in its crime statistics recently.

Its relatively poor violent crime statistics went up between 2014-16, while property crime fell by a very small amount to 261 occurrences.

3. Emporia

Population: 5,382Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)Violent Crimes Per 100k: 631Property Crimes Per 100k: 4,886
While Emporia is a known speed trap with rigorous enforcement of speeding laws, it is also a relative hot bed for the occurrence of crime.

As the FBI aggregates crime data based on reporting from local municipalities, it wouldn’t surprise us if Emporia ranks highly simply because the police department does an excellent job of reporting crimes that occur within its city limits.

Emporia has the 6th most violent crimes in Virginia.

4. Danville

Population: 41,686Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)Violent Crimes Per 100k: 803Property Crimes Per 100k: 3,667
The largest city in Danville city, Danville has experienced a 13% increase in its violent crime rate and a 19% rise in property crime rate between 2014-16.

Folks in Danville had about a 1 in 27.3 chance of being robbed or burnt in 2016, which is just the heavy price you pay for living in Danville.

5. Norfolk

Population: 245,734Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 3)Violent Crimes Per 100k: 657Property Crimes Per 100k: 3,913
Kind of like a semi, underachieving older brother, Norfolk has slightly less violent crime per person and substantially less property crime per person.

Again, the large incidence of crime in this city can probably be attributed to the outsize number of people coming through the port. And, like all cities, there are rougher sections and nicer sections.

6. South Boston

Population: 7,944Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)Violent Crimes Per 100k: 465Property Crimes Per 100k: 3,965
South Boston placed 6th on our list due, in part, to a 1 in 25.2 chance of being the victim of a property crime.

The main attraction in the town is the South Boston Speedway and it’s not too far of a stretch to think that the visitors for races contribute to the crime rate in the city more so than the full time residents.

7. Petersburg

Population: 32,293Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 3)Violent Crimes Per 100k: 740Property Crimes Per 100k: 3,319
Petersburg is an important transportation hub in the state of Virginia. It houses both CSX and NX rail systems, in addition to being a stop for Amtrak. There are also a plethora of major interstate highways that run through the city.

The sheer volume of people passing through Petersburg probably contributes to the high occurrence of violent crime within the city. There were 239 violent crimes in 2016.

8. Roanoke

Population: 99,978Rank Last Year: 16 (Up 8)Violent Crimes Per 100k: 413Property Crimes Per 100k: 4,195
Coming in at number 8 on our list of most dangerous places in Virginia, residents of Roanoke had a 1 in 21.7 chance of being the victim of a crime.

Acting as a commercial hub for Southwest Virginia, the freight rail industry is a major component of Roanoke’s economy. This industry may also contribute to the higher than average crime rate of the city.

NO WAY, should Tappahannock, Virginia be on this list. I moved to Tappahannock when I was about three years old. It is and as always been a wonderful place to live. There has never been any type of high crime of by kind there that warrants us to be on this list. We are a small town with lots of love and compassion for one another. Although I don’t live there anymore, I frequent the area often as my parents still live there. I love my hometown and am very disturbed by this report.

Actually the majority of the towns and cities listed are not high density nor are the black communities. What they are unfortunately as a majority are rural areas that were heavily reliant on single source factories that closed. Thereby destroying their local economies. Whether it was Dan River, Uniroyal or DOD contractors, if a local economy is built on and around a specific company and it closes and there is no contingency plan this is the end result.

Appalachia, VA is the only one that is predominately Caucasian, but it’s an incredibly depressed area since Obama closed so many coal mines and mining is all they know + there is no town/city close for the people to pursue an alternative. Moreover, all they’d have to do is commit possibly two property crimes to be on the list, look at the population.
I am stunned the writer of this article would consider this place since it doesn’t even have it’s own school district/police force or anything. They share everything with Wise County.
There are two more that are about 50/50 Roanoke, and Tapahanach has about 50% people of color and 48% Caucasian and 2% Hispanic. However, you are right on target when it comes to the rest of the towns/cities. Personally, I feel he was grasping at straws when he put Appalachia and Tappahannock in the article. He felt he had to have at least two towns/cities predominately caucasian to make the article seem fairer. OBTW, the word Tappahannock is pronounced (TAPP’-ah-HANN’-ock) Tappahannock.
Richmond (I live) is 54% people of color, and the remaining towns/cities are either higher or about the same. So the person who wrote it’s not based on the racial makeup of the towns/cities is not altogether correct.
And for those of you that are offended by my comment, all I can tell you is read the statistics across the country. The crime rate among men of color is three times higher than any other race in America.
Admittedly, it could be some of the other factors in the article, but being one who’s very familiar with Richmond and Petersburg, I would have to agree more with your analysis.

in Norfolk, gunshots are so common that no one calls them in, and 24 hours a day we hear sirens up and down Little Creek rd. And really: Newport News may have snatched the Murder Capitol title from Petersburg; gang/drug violence is worse there than it is here in Norfolk. pretty spot-on article.

I live in Lynchburg actually in the city. We hear sirens every night. There are shootings and stabbings every week and Channel 13 doesn’t report any of it. Channel 7 out of Roanoke lets people know whats going on. I think Lynchburg in general needs to be better informed. There was a shooting at the hospital last night.

if you are thinking about moving or visiting Ashland, don’t. its full of herion addicts and meth heads that just want to rob you for your money. its also the drug capital of virginia and the police don’t do a fucking thing about it.